


Confrontation

by Knife_Consumer



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Injury, Lace is a super meany asshole in this, lifeblood is yucky, like actually disgusting, the knight is only mentioned, tw injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knife_Consumer/pseuds/Knife_Consumer
Summary: Hornet ran through deepdocks. Why she'd returned to the area, she couldn't remember. But it didn't matter. She just needed to keep running.Lace was following her again
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Confrontation

Hornet ran, boots long abandoned after they'd snagged in a bush, the coals below were free to blister her feet. Her lungs burned and her legs were threatening to buckle, every muscle in her body screamed at her to stop, to find shelter and rest. But she couldn't.  
A specific type of dread gnawed at her sides, one she couldn't ignore.

Lace was following her again. 

The fear she experienced in Pharloom was like nothing she'd ever felt before. This Kingdom was not hers, the land far more industrialized than her own. There were no places to hide, and though there were few spots that seemed promising, Hornet soon learned she could not fit into them.  
For the very first time in her life, she was the prey.

Was this what a Crawlid felt like? Scampering endlessly, hoping to find a saftey other than it's flimsy shell? Only for it to have been a wasted effort in the end, corpse dangling, skewered on the tip of a blade?

No.

Hornet shook her head, Running with a newfound vigor. She was not weak. Not helpless.  
If Lace wanted to kill her, then so be it.  
Hornet would make sure it was no easy task.

Leaping, she grabbed onto a ledge which scorched her hand. Painful, but no suprise. Why she'd returned to Deepdocks, she didn't remember. But it didn't matter, all that was important right now was to shake Lace off of her trail. Dashing to a non-molten surface, she checked behind herself.

No one.

She had at least expected to see a speck of white in the distance, but all that was there was the barren, charred landscape she'd grown accustomed to.  
Squinting, she leaned to get a closer look, scrutinized every minute detail, every crack and corner, but there was still no one.  
Did she lose Lace? 

Turning back around, she knew she shouldn't drop her guard so easily, but every time she tried to get back up and run, her legs gave in underneath her. She needed momentum, and now that she had stopped, chances of getting it back were next to none. 

Lifeblood. The thought only flashed through her mind once, but she latched onto it like a lifeline. Because it was her lifeline. Her saving grace. Greatful that she had thought to refill her syringe earlier, she carefully lined up the needle to where she needed it most, a major vein in her leg.

Hornet had to be quick about this, Lace was still out there somewhere, and peircing her exoskeleton with a needle this small would require a sharp, concentrated jab.  
She needed to focus, but she needed to hurry. 

Her exhaustion made her hands shake, drawing back, the following stab was horribly weak. The most she accomplished was making herself bleed.  
"Ghn, shit..."  
Looking down, her hand was covered in blood. Too much blood.

Now she couldn't even walk properly. The only choice she had would be to lay here, out in the open, and only hope that Lace wouldn't find her. But that was hoping for too much, wasn't it? Compared to the grey rock around her, Hornet was an eyesore; vibrant red cloak and large, pearl colored horns. And even if she dragged herself away, she'd leave a trail of blood.

Grumbling, she cut off a swatch of her cloak and tied it tightly around where she'd stabbed. That would have to do for now. Using her needle as support, Hornet pulled herself back up to her feet, limping away as best she could.  
She tried to stick to the sides of the landscape, where the coals weren't as hot, but in the end, she had to lunge forward to cooler ground, making her leg bleed even more.  
Now on her belly, she dragged herself behind a sizeable rock. It wasn't a lot of cover, but it was better than nothing.

She cut off another piece of her cloak, as the old tie was more dried blood than cloth. Tying this one a bit tighter than the last, she took out her syringe again. She was in not state to inject the little contents that were left, she'd have to resort to something far more... disgusting. Primitive. 

Something that she'd seen the little Ghost do...

She dissmised the thought. No reason to sadden herself thinking of her sibling, now long gone.  
Instead, she should spend a moment preparing herself for the horribly bitter, gross consistency of Lifeseed guts.  
Taking the cap off of the syringe, she tried to down it all in one go, but a small chunk of- what she hoped was just hardened lifeblood -got stuck in her throat.  
Gagging, she tried to swallow whatever it was down as well, further digusted when it popped and turned to more of a jellow.

Now slightly nauseous from the meaty aftertaste, she re-screwed the cap and carefully put the syringe back in her cloak's pockets. She could already feel the effects of the lifeblood setting in. The burns on her body were no longer as painful, now only tender, and the awful ache in her legs settled to a slightly irritating buzz. Soon, it would help in clotting the blood near where she'd stabbed, but for it to happen faster, she needed rest.  
Could she? This rock provided barely any cover.

Scanning the landscape once again, there was still no sign of Lace. Still, she readied a throwing pin and a few pocket saws.  
Better safe than sorry.

Leaning back, her exhaustion set in, much more than it had before. Even though the stone was hard, and she'd surely wake up cramping, she found it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open.  
And just as she was drifting off...

White.

Panic jolted her out of her haze. Her heart began pounding, her limbs twitching, ready to sprint despite their abused state.

Laughter.

No, no no no no! She grabbed for her needle, only to find it missing. A taunting giggle sounded overhead, as a pin jabbed just short of her neck and roughly guided Hornet's gaze upwards.

Lace stood above her, powerful, unaffected by the harsh area around her. An expression of pure, twisted glee crossed her hooded face at the sight of Hornet trembling in fear.  
"Little spider, how careless you must be... to rest out in the open like this, you're surely wishing to die. Or... did you not have a choice? You certainly look as though-"

"Shut-- Shut up..."  
Hornet hissed, fangs throbbing with venom that was never utilized. There was no room for fighting with honor, not in this state. She'd bite if she had to.  
Lace laughed yet again, something that would be easy on the ears, if it weren't absolutely infuriating given the context.

"My, my! You seem to still have some fight in you! Some strength!" She eyed where Hornet had injured herself, a wide grin splitting across her face. "Or, perhaps you're just all talk."

Lace leaned down, grabbing Hornet's face and turning it to the side, letting out an amused 'hmph' when there was no resistance. "God, this is pitiful. You're pitiful... something so innocent as you shouldn't have to suffer this way." Lace's voice dripped with a fake sweetness. Her grip tightened, forcing Hornet to look her in the eyes.  
"How about I do us both a favor. Stay still, dearest."

Lace let go of Hornet's head, only to stomp on the knee of her injured leg. Visibly delighted with how Hornet screamed and tried to scramble away.  
Drawing back her pin, she lined it up with the spider's chest before-

"...For someone who's a 'renowned' fencer, you don't fight with much honor."  
Hornet jeered at the other between ragged breaths. In no condition to fight, her only hope was to degrade Lace until she left.

Lace's usual sweet facade broke only for an instant as she sneered, before it mended itself as though she'd heard nothing.  
"Oh, my little spider, do you never learn?"  
A sickening crack was heard as a harsh kick was delivered to Hornet's abdomen.

Lace turned heel, taking delight in listening to Hornet gasp and wheeze.  
"I am fighting with honor, for my own cause. Just because you don't find it fair doesn't mean that it's unethical."  
She strode over to where she'd took Hornet's needle, before kicking it back to the spider.  
"Though, you are somewhat right."  
Hornet glared as Lace grew closer, the gentle tapping of flats against stone seemed deafening.

Lace grinned, bending down so that she was at eye level with the other. Rummaging through her pockets, she pulled out a tiny bottle of medicinal herbes and tossed them at Hornet's feet.

"It'd hardly be any fun to kill something without a fight."

**Author's Note:**

> Damn lace really went:  
> "I'm going to bully you......
> 
> And then bully you again."


End file.
